Win-win solutions : applying business planning in a collaborative undergraduate design project

Abstract: Comprehensive universities in an emerging tertiary education context require effective teaching strategies and projects to enhance optimal output that is benchmarked on an international level of excellence. This paper reports on a collaborative project applied in an undergraduate fashion design and business (entrepreneurship) programme at a comprehensive university in Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of this study was to enhance programme outcomes through a creative collaborative project in order to enhance the quality of business planning through an action learning approach. Relevant principles were applied to the collaborative project relate to theory on collective creativity as well as action learning. Empirical data collected during the project was predominantly qualitative in nature involving: student reflections during and post-project (probed by means of a developed tool), minutes of students’ action-oriented meetings, video recordings of final presentations, as well as evaluation of the final business plans proposing a workable business concept for the competitive and creative fashion industry. Data were analysed by means of content analysis of student journals, lecturers’ observations of video material were documented and an analytic rubric was implemented to evaluate the quality of the business plans. Findings suggest the advantages for the lecturers of the programme pertained to using the allocated time for the project optimally as they could only facilitate the process and simply explain the principles of the project and business planning instead of formally teaching the relevant theory relating to the business plan. Other critical cross outcomes were also obtained, such as enhancing communication skills in meetings and through social media, promoting cultural and students’ self-awareness. The findings culminates in a framework which aims to aid collective creativity through action learning in a context of in applying a higher level of designer-like thinking to business planning

Design thinking in entrepreneurship education : understanding framing and placements of problems

Abstract: Orientation: Design thinking presented an alternative lens for entrepreneurship education. Research purpose: The purpose of this article was to illustrate (with a framework) the benefits of encouraging a design-based mindset when exploring problem placement and framing to create new opportunities for entrepreneurship students. Motivation for the study: The role of placement and framing of open-complex problems has not been fully embraced in the literature on design thinking for entrepreneurship education. The seminal work of Richard Buchannan (a great influencer in the realm of design thinking) offered a deeper insight into the placement and framing of problems that could assist educators to facilitate thinking skills relevant to deal with the unpredictable contexts that future entrepreneurs have to be prepared for..

A PAF-acetylhydrolase activity in Tetrahymena pyriformis cells

AbstractOur study provides evidence for the existence of an acylhydrolase activity in Tetrahymena pyriformis cells, capable of hydrolizing the sn-2 ester bond of the PAF molecule. This activity is mainly distributed in the microsomal fraction (76.5% of total) and has properties similar to the mammalian PAF-acetylhydrolase since it is Ca2+-independent, acid-labile, is inhibited by DFP and PMSF but it is not affected by egg yolk phosphatidylcholine. This microsomal acylhydrolase has apparent Km and Vmax values of 1.56 μM and 373 pmols - mg - min respectively. This is the first report of the existence of a PAF-acetylhydrolase activity in a non-mammalian cell

The female innovation-generation consumer’s evaluation of traditional and virtual displays in South African clothing retail environments

Abstract: Using virtual displays in South African clothing retail outlets could be a marketing communication strategy that attracted consumers to products or the actual stores. This marketing communication influences consumers’ purchase decisions and consequently enhances the competitiveness of the clothing retailer in a dynamic fashion industry. Thus the use of virtual displays is increasing. Implementing digital and virtual display screens in the visual displays of South African physical retail outlets could appeal to particular consumer segments. The innovation-generation consumer segment is the largest and foremost global consumer segment to date, with massive buying power, and this group’s affiliation for the virtual world should not be ignored, as it may prove to be useful when applying omni-channel retailing that stimulates a certain consumer experience. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to report on the evaluation of the female innovation-generation consumer with regard to a static traditional visual display or a virtual representation of the display. Two stimuli (displays) were presented to 653 female respondents from the innovation-generation consumer in Johannesburg (Gauteng). One stimulus was a static traditional visual display and the other a virtual representation thereof which included movement and music. The findings in this paper indicate that although the respondents understood the message of the virtual display and could identify with the symbolic meaning thereof, there is also evidence that the respondents’ emotions were evoked by both the stimuli. Nevertheless, it seems that the traditional visual display still seemed to be preferred with regard to the emotions that it evoked, especially regarding pleasure. The paper concludes with recommendations on the use of virtual displays to support South African clothing retailers

Designing success : describing a collaborative clothing design Process between apprentice designers and expert design entrepreneurs

Abstract: This paper describes a collaborative clothing design process applied at an incubation hub that supports and develops apprentice clothing designers who aspire to launch their own entrepreneurial ventures. A specific range, which was designed during a design process, had to be showcased at an international fashion week and then sold to consumers in a local specialty store. A case study research design was implemented to describe the collaborative design process between apprentice and expert designers. Qualitative research methods were used in this study, namely observation and semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that collective creativity resulted from the collaboration between the designers and apprentice designers who worked in teams. Collective creativity proved to be beneficial to the apprentice designers as well as the expert designers. The particular benefits of collaboration and collective creativity for apprentice designers during the specific clothing design process pertain to fluency and flexibility, whereas the benefits for expert designers were in the novelty of ideas presented by apprentice designers. Other benefits from a business perspective relate to the expectations of apprentice designers about the design process for a specific target market and the stimulation of creativity during problem-solving, which are important in a business or entrepreneurial context. Recommendations regarding the application of the design process at a creative incubation hub are provided

Ανάπτυξη ιντερνετικής εφαρμογής (Web application) για την εκτίμηση της ποσότητας των στερεών και υγρών ραδιενεργών καταλοίπων από τη λειτουργία ενός in vitro εργαστηρίου Πυρηνικής Ιατρικής

Κατά τις εξετάσεις in vitro στα εργαστήρια Πυρηνικής Ιατρικής προσδιορίζεται η συγκέντρωση μιας συγκεκριμένης ορμόνης ανθρωπίνων δειγμάτων αίματος έπειτα από αντίδραση αντιγόνου-αντισώματος. Η μετρήσιμη ποσότητα είναι οι κρούσεις ανά λεπτό (counts per minute - cpm) ενός ραδιενεργού ιχνηθέτη ο οποίος είναι επισημασμένος στα αντιγόνα ή τα αντισώματα ανάλογα με τη μέθοδο της εξέτασης. Οι μετρήσεις πραγματοποιούνται σε ανιχνευτή γ-counter τύπου πηγαδιού που περιέχει κρύσταλλο σπινθηρισμού ο οποίος του προσδίδει υψηλή ευαισθησία και τον καθιστά ιδανικό για μετρήσεις δειγμάτων αρκετά χαμηλής ενεργότητας όπως είναι οι εξετάσεις in vitro. Τόσο κατά την επεξεργασία των δειγμάτων όσο και μετά την ολοκλήρωση των μετρήσεων, προκύπτουν στερεά και υγρά ραδιενεργά κατάλοιπα. Τα κατάλοιπα αυτά καταλήγουν να γίνουν απόβλητα από το εργαστήριο και κρίνεται αναγκαία η εκτίμηση της ενεργότητάς τους, διότι υπάρχουν καθορισμένα όρια απόρριψης αποβλήτων θεσμοθετημένα από το κράτος που αναφέρονται στον κανονισμό ακτινοπροστασίας. Σκοπός της εργασίας, ήταν η ανάπτυξη ιντερνετικής εφαρμογής η οποία δίνει τη δυνατότητα εκτίμησης της ενεργότητας των στερεών και υγρών αποβλήτων και έπειτα καταχώρησης, αποθήκευσης, ενημέρωσης και εκτύπωσης αρχείου των καταχωρήσεων των στερεών και υγρών ραδιενεργών αποβλήτων, τόσο της ημέρας όσο και εντός χρονικού διαστήματος το οποίο επιθυμεί ο χρήστης. Η εκτίμηση των στερεών και υγρών καταλοίπων επιτυγχάνεται μετά από στατιστική ανάλυση δεδομένων από πολλές ομοειδείς εξετάσεις. Η εφαρμογή αναπτύχθηκε με τη χρήση της γλώσσας σήμανσης HTML, τη γλώσσα φύλλων ύφους CSS και τη γλώσσα προγραμματισμού JavaScript. Ο χρήστης έχει τη δυνατότητα επιλογής της ημερομηνίας, της εξέτασης, του κατασκευαστή και του αριθμού σωληναρίων ώστε να γίνει ο υπολογισμός των αποβλήτων δημιουργώντας μία καταχώρηση. Οι καταχωρήσεις του χρήστη εμφανίζονται σε δύο πίνακες, τον Αναλυτικό Πίνακα απορρίψεων και τον Πίνακα ημερησίων απορρίψεων που υπάρχουν στη σελίδα και μπορούν να αποθηκευτούν σε αρχείο τύπου csv τοπικά σε συσκευή με αποθηκευτικό χώρο. Τέλος, η εφαρμογή παρέχει τη δυνατότητα ενημέρωσης του αρχείου από το χρήστη καθώς και την εκτύπωση μόνο των αποτελεσμάτων της σελίδας, δηλαδή των δύο πινάκων.During in vitro tests at Nuclear Medicine laboratories the concentration of specific human hormones is measured after an antibody-antigen reaction. The measured quantity is the counts per minute of a radioactive tracer which is labeled to the antigen or the antibody according to the method of the test. The measurements are performed by a well type γ-counter detector which contains a scintillation crystal with very high sensitivity. The presence of this kind of crystal makes the detector ideal for quite low activity measurements such as the in vitro tests. Solid and liquid radioactive residuals are both produced during the samples’ processing and after the measurements completion. Those residuals result to be radioactive wastes so the estimation of their activity is necessary because of statutory disposal limits which are reported to radiation protection regulation. The purpose of this thesis was the development of an internet application which is able to calculate the solid and liquid radioactive wastes and afterwards to register, store, update and print a file with the solid and liquid wastes registrations both daily and within a desirable by the user period. The application developed with the markup language HTML, the style sheet language CSS and the programming language JavaScript. The user can select the date, the test, the manufacturer and the number of tubes creating a registration. The user’s registrations emerge at two tables, the Analytical discharge Table and Daily discharge Table, which are occurred at the application and they can be stored to a csv file locally at a storage device. Finally the capability of updating the file by the user and printing only the results of the application is provided

Distributed Data Mining: The JAM system architecture

This paper describes the system architecture of JAM (Java Agents for Meta-learning), a distributed data mining system that scales up to large and physically separated data sets. An earlyversion of the JAM system was described in Stolfo-et-al-97-KDD-JAM. Since then, JAM has evolved both architecturally and functionally and here we present the final design and implementation details of this system architecture. JAM is an extensible agent-based distributed data mining system that supports the remote dispatch and exchange of agents among participating datasites and employs meta-learning techniques to combine the multiple models that are learned. One of JAM's target applications is fraud and intrusion detection in financial information systems. A brief description of this learning task and JAM's applicability and summary results are also discussed

“Re-Tale”: Proposing A Fifth Principle in The Sustainable Fashion Retail Story

The fashion industry has long been in a battle to improve its sustainability, as well as its environmental protection efforts. In this conceptual paper, we unpack the different stories of sustainability and environmental challenges in this specific industry – which is very much driven by fast fashion. We contrast developing (South Africa) and developed (Sweden) markets’ approaches to fashion sustainability, to uncover and understand broad overlapping dimensions of sustainability, and differences. The aim of this paper is to stimulate thinking and conversations about sustainable practices in developing nations as well as in developed nations. The review of the stories and the contexts presented suggests the need to shift the focus to the developing market’s consumer, and concludes with the proposal of including a fifth principle of sustainability: Reframing fashion

Applying the design process to apparel prototype development : students' experiences of a community service-learning project

Studente se ervaring van „n diensleer projek word in hierdie artikel beskryf. Die vennootskap tussen „n akademiese department en „n sosiale entrepreneur het geleentheid gebied om fina-lejaar-studente aan die realiteit van kleding-produkontwikkeling bloot te stel. Amajobjob is „n sosiale entrepreneur wat basiese lewensvaar-dighede ontwikkel deur „n reeks opleidingspro-gramme, waaronder basiese klerekonstruksie, aan te bied. Deelnemers aan die program kan na voltooiing „n langbroek, of te wel African Happy Pants™, vervaardig. Dit is „n trots Suid-Afrikaanse langbroek, gemaak van „n unieke, kleurvolle materiaal wat die ritme van Afrika we-erspieël. Amajobjob verskaf uitgeknipte pa-troondele en ander rou material aan opgeleide deelnemers. Die individue maak dan die langbroeke en word vir hul arbeid betaal, terwyl Amajobjob die verkope behartig. Op hierdie ma-nier kan die individue hul eie inkomste bepaal. Amajobjob beskik egter nie oor die nodige vaar-dighede om nuwe produkte te ontwerp en on-twikkel nie. Verbruikerswetenskap-studente wat speisaliseer in die Kledingbestuurprogram, kon egter die gaping in die vaardighede aanvul. Finalejaarstudente wat ingeskryf was vir die produkontwikkeling-vak het die uitdaging om die produkreeks te verbeter en uit te brei, aanvaar. Studente ontwikkel hoër kognitiewe vaar-dighede gedurende die produkontwikkelingvak. Kritiese denke wat vaardighede soos ontwerp, analise, sintese en evaluering insluit, word verder ontwikkel. Die voordeel van projekte wat op werklike probleme gebasseer is, is dat dit aan die student die geleentheid bied om prak-tiese ondervinding op te doen, en werkverwante vaardighede toe te pas. Die doel van die projek was om die bestaande klere-produkreeks van „n sosiale entrepreneur uit te brei en/of te verbeter, en om die studente se ervaring van die realiteit van produkontwik-keling te beskryf. Die projek het studente in staat gestel om teoretiese en praktiese kennis wat in die Verbruikerswetenskap Kledingpro-gram bekom is, in die produkontwikkeling-vak toe te pas. Die navorsingsontwerp was deelnemende-aksie navorsing en aktiwiteite is gestruktureer volgens „n ontwerpproses wat op kledingprodukontwik-keling van toepassing is. Sewe-en-twintig stu-dente wat vir die vak ingeskryf was, het aan die projek deelgeneem. Om te bepaal hoe doel-treffend die produkte ontwikkel is, is die stu-dente se eweknie-evaluering (“peer evaluation”) van die finale produkte met Amajobjob se keuse van produkte vergelyk. Na voltooiing van die vak moes die studente „n geskrewe refleksie oor hul ervaring inhandig, en dit is deur middel van inhoud-analise (“content analysis”) ontleed. Die positiewe impak van diensleer is in studente se geskrewe refleksies bevestig. Die inhoud van die refleksies het „n positiewe ervaring ten op-sigte van ontwerp, produksie, toepassing van kennis, groepwerk en sosiale verant-woordelikheid uitgelig. Teoretiese en praktiese uitkomste is bereik, wat terselfdertyd „n posi-tiewe leerervaring en bydrae tot die gemeen-skap gemaak het. Twee-en-twintig van die 67 produk-idees is deur die sosiale entrepreneur gekies om die bestaande produkreeks uit te brei en dui daarop dat die studente die behoeftes van die sosiale entrepreneur, asook die han-delsmerkbeeld op „n doeltreffende manier geïn-terpreteer en in die eindproduk toegepas het. Die uitbreiding van die produkreeks fasiliteer werkskepping, wat tot voordeel van die ge-meenskap sal wees. Die studente is bevoordeel deur die kombinasie van diensleer-aktiwiteite met die akademiese kurrikulum, en die gemeen-skap is bevoordeel deur die uitbreiding van die produkreeks en moontlike werksgeleenthede. In „n multidissiplinêre vakgebied soos produ-kontwikkeling waar teoretiese en tegniese vaar-dighede toegepas word, kan gemeenskap-gebaseerde diensleer „n nuwe dimensie aan die opleiding van Verbruikerswetenskaplikes bied.We would like to acknowledge the University of Pretoria, Department of Consumer Science (where both authors were employed during the project) and the 2011 Clothing Management final year stu-dents.http://www.up.ac.za/saafecs/am201